Vianney Grad Boemer Shining at Southern Illinois

graduate and current Southern Illinois University at Carbondale center Bryan Boemer continues to rack up some impressive preseason football honors.

The six-foot, two-inch, 317-pound senior lineman is one of three Salukis named to The Sports Network/Fathead.com Football Championship Subdivision Preseason All-America Team. The FCS, officially formed in 2006, was previously known as NCAA Division I-AA.

Boemer, who has been SIUC’s starting center for 24 consecutive games, was also named to Phil Steele's 2011 Preseason FCS All-American Team as a third-team center in his College Football Preview magazine. Boemer was on Steele’s Missouri Valley Conference first team preseason squad.

The All-MVC football team has included Boemer in each of the past two seasons, including first-team recognition in 2010.

Boemer, a 2007  grad, was a first-team all-conference offensive tackle for the Griffins as a junior and senior, and was named first-team all-state as a senior. Boemer also played lacrosse, basketball and golf at .

He anchors a standout offensive line that returns all five starters from the 2010 Salukis team that went 5-6. SIUC averaged almost 190 yards rushing per game. The Salukis begin fall practice on August 7.

NFL Star Maclin Comes Home to Help Kids

Former Kirkwood football star Jeremy Maclin held his football camp last week at Kirkwood High School.

Maclin is currently preparing for his third season with the Philadelphia Eagles, who will open training camp this week now that the players and owners have agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, preventing further delay in the preparation for the 2011 NFL season.

The camp lasted three days (July 18-20) and included football players between the ages of 6 and 16. He has started the Jeremy Maclin Foundation, which targets families that are devoted to their communities.

Maclin, who graduated from Kirkwood High in 2006, played for the University of Missouri before being drafted by the Eagles in 2009. One of his Missouri teammates, current Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, served as a camp counselor. Rams receiver Danario Alexander was also a counselor, and is an ex-teammate of Maclin’s at Missouri.

In 2010 for Philadelphia, Maclin had 70 receptions for 964 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Eagles will play at St. Louis on Sept. 11.

Youth Soccer National Championships Has Local Flavor

The St. Louis Scott Gallagher IL Premier Under-17 girls soccer team is in Phoenix this week for the elite six-team U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, which runs through Sunday.

SLSG IL coach Tony Schmitt played for Mike Villa at . His team features all local players. This includes Ursuline Academy defender Maddie Friedmann, Nerinx Hall defender Haylye Markway and Webster Groves goalkeeper Jessica Perry, who will attend Samford University in Alabama this fall. Friedmann, meanwhile, will attend the University of Mississippi and Markway is headed to Quincy University in Illinois.

(Have some local sports news, or story ideas? Please email Patch sports editor Brian Doolittle at briandoolittle@hotmail.com)